COLUMBUS: Ohio’s election chief says he is setting the hours and days in which residents can vote early for the primary election because the Legislature has failed to put uniform times into law.

Secretary of State Jon Husted told a conference of local election officials that the early voting hours for all 88 counties would primarily be regular business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Voters also can cast an early ballot from 8 a.m. to noon on the Saturday before the May 6 election.

Husted says the schedule reflects a proposal from the bipartisan Ohio Association of Election Officials.

Husted, a Republican, and other statewide officeholders are up for election this November.

An election specialist with the League of Women Voters of Ohio calls the hours insufficient.